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David I. Kertzer Named Provost of Brown University
David I. Kertzer, professor and chair of the Department of Anthropology at Brown University, has been named the University’s 10th provost. Kertzer succeeds Robert J. Zimmer, who will leave the University July 1 to become president of the University of Chicago. Brown President Ruth J. Simmons informed the campus community of Kertzer’s appointment by e-mail. PROVIDENCE, R.I. — David I. Kertzer, professor and chair of the Department of Anthropology at Brown University, has been named the University’s 10th provost. Kertzer will assume his new duties July 1, 2006. He succeeds Robert J. Zimmer, who has been named president of the University of Chicago. “As a Brown alumnus, Brown parent and long-serving and highly respected member of the faculty, David brings exceptional depth and breadth of knowledge and skill to the position of provost, which will serve us well at this juncture in our history,” said Simmons, who chaired the search committee. “The committee enthusiastically supported his candidacy; we feel that he will be an excellent provost.” The provost is the University’s chief academic officer, second in rank to the president, and serves as deputy to the president in a range of University matters. When the president is away from campus, the provost is the officer in charge. David Kertzer Kertzer joined the Brown faculty in 1992 as the Paul Dupee Jr. University Professor of Social Science. He is professor of anthropology and Italian studies and currently serves as chair of the Department of Anthropology. He developed and now directs the Anthropological Demography program and was founding director of the Politics, Culture, and Identity research program of the Watson Institute for International Studies. Kertzer recently chaired the search for a new director of the Watson Institute. A Brown alumnus (A.B., 1969) and a Brown parent, Kertzer received a Ph.D. in anthropology from Brandeis University in 1974. He was William R. Kenan Jr. Professor at Bowdoin College from 1989 to 1992. He twice won the Marraro Prize from the Society for Italian Historical Studies for the best book in Italian history, and co-founded and co-edits the Journal of Modern Italian Studies. Kertzer is currently vice president and president-elect of the Social Science History Association and co-edits the book series New Perspectives on Anthropological and Social Demography for Cambridge University Press. His book The Kidnapping of Edgardo Mortara was a finalist for the National Book Award in 1997. His 2001 book, The Popes Against the Jews, has been published in nine languages. Kertzer’s many honors include a Guggenheim fellowship, a National Endowment for the Humanities fellowship, two Fulbright fellowships, various National Science Foundation and National Institutes of Health research awards, a fellowship year at the Center for Advanced Study in the Behavior Sciences, Stanford, and a residency at the American Academy of Rome. In 2005 he was elected to be a fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. The Committee In addition to Simmons, the provost selection committee included:
Marisa Quinn, assistant to the president, was staff for the committee. ###### Media Relations Home | Top of File | e-Subscribe | Brown Home Page |